Monday, October 25, 2010

Cranberry Crock Pot Beef

I love my crock pot. It was a gift from my brother and his wife, and I think of them and thank them every single time I use it. I can't believe that I went so long without one!

I love finding new recipes using the crock pot, too. There is something so great about throwing a bunch of ingredients into the pot in the morning and having a full, delicious meal ready at dinner time, usually with little to no additional work.

Recently, watching some weekend PBS cooking shows, daddy saw what looked like an easy, delicious and seasonally appropriate recipe for the crock pot. Always up to try something new, easy, delicious and, well, seasonally appropriate, we tried it that very week.

The recipe, in a nutshell, called for three ingredients: beef (specifically, brisket, but, since it is going in the crock pot, I would recommend using whatever cut of beef roast is on the best sale), cranberry sauce (canned, according to the recipe) and onion soup mix. That is it.

I have been trying to reduce the use of canned goods around here, so decided to proceed with the recipe using our own homemade cranberry sauce, which is actually super easy to make, and tastes so much better than the canned alternative. Fresh cranberries are hitting the shelves in most of the local supermarkets and produce stands, and are so easy to turn into a delicious sauce or jelly. The rinsed berries are mixed with sugar and cooked down with the liquid of your choice - water, juice - it completely up to you. You can use white sugar or brown. You can add in other berries. This is a very forgiving and adaptable recipe. Fruit, sugar and liquid combined, the mixture is simmered until most of the berries have burst, at which point, all that is left is to wait for it to cool. That is it.

And guess what. Putting together the beef is actually even easier than that. All you have to do is put the roast into the crock pot, pour the cranberry sauce on top (canned, fresh - whatever you have), then take one packet of onion soup mix and sprinkle that on top. Then put the lid on the crock pot, turn it on low and let it sit all day. Seriously - that is it. No extra liquid, no extra spices - it doesn't really get much easier than that.

So how does it turn out?

So tender, so flavorful, and really quite delicious.We served this with noodles and fresh, steamed brocolli, both very quick and easy side dishes, and it was quite a delicious meal. I will definitely keep this recipe handy for busy days.